Graduating from college can be a stressful time for any software developer. If your experience is anything like mine, you are told different theories from every person when it comes to salaries to expect from your first job. Well, let me tell you that these theories are rarely accurate. It all breaks down to the company and position that you end up being offered. Once you know this, the art of negotiation comes into play and if you do not know what you’re doing it ends up being very disappointing. Hopefully after reading this you will be better prepared to duke it out on your next offer.

Common Salary Misconceptions

Market Demand

When I was looking for my first job, I was told that I should jump on the first offer I was offered. The reasons were because of the current economy and the massive layoffs throughout the industry. I was told to get in at the first company that seemed stable and work my way from there once I have some experience under my belt, I disagree completely.

The whole argument about the bad economy is something to definitely factor in, but rarely applies to the software industry. We are lucky that the software industry has continued to grow all throughout the economy. It is becoming a critical source of income for every large corporation. Companies know this and are still willing to hire you with a good salary because they know if anyone is going to positively impact their forecasts it is going to be the technology sector. Use this to your advantage when you apply for your next position. Companies will always hire you if you show you’re a talented developer unless technology truly is a second citizen to their corporation.

Outsourcing will steal our jobs

The whole outsourcing scare does not apply to the development industry. Nearly every outsourced position is for something in the IT departments. IT does not encompass software developers! IT are those awesome folks who install Norton Antivirus on your computer and hook up new servers, do not group yourself in with these people because you are more valuable it terms of salary. The software development field is a very safe place to be as long as your talented. If you’re not talented then just like every position, you have something to worry about.

Salaries are inflexible for Entry Positions

If you were a business major in college, I would completely agree with this statement but obviously we are not. This statement is true when it comes to some companies however the majority of companies are flexible. Any successful technology-centric company knows that new graduates are the source of great talent and are willing to pay for it. It is much harder for corporations to go out and grab a talented developer a year or two after graduation because they come at a much higher cost. Generally speaking, anything you counter-offer with will be much less than they will pay an experienced developer.

There are exceptions to this rule. Many companies have firm salaries for new graduates, but this is there for good measure. A company would rather pay every graduate a competitive, but conservative, salary to start. They do not want to gamble thousands on the chance you will be a talented developer, but the minute you prove yourself to be talented you will most likely be given a raise. This approach follows the philosophy ”you’re not going to jump on a ship until you know its sea worthy.” With a few minutes of reasearch, it is pretty easy to figure out if the company takes this approach or not.

The Art of Negotiation

This will be coming in a followup article, but now that I have debunked some of the salary myths you should be better prepared for the next offer that comes your way. Remember, if you are a talented developer companies are willing to meet your demands (as long as they are reasonable) so do not be afraid, be confident.